Downtown is happening in a big way
jon@dmcityview.com

For nearly two decades, there has been a steady stream of equal parts bitching and moaning regarding what to do with our downtown neighborhood and when to do it. Should there be more housing first? Should we concentrate on entertainment? Should we have a year-round farmers' market? Should we develop the river? Should we give away the store to huge corporations? Should we have a park? The questions were all good ones. And many of them had answers. It's just that most of them seemed never to be acted on. Downtown has been stuck in first gear, leaving the masses to think for some time, and rightfully so, what a waste.

However, over the past few years, as the debate really heated up, something strange happened: downtown. Obviously, all of the things that have and continue to make downtown attractive for residents and visitors alike didn't happen overnight, but the changing of sentiment regarding it did - at least outwardly so. The cranes have filled the skies downtown and the roads have been a mess in and around downtown for years, so it wasn't tough to see that something was taking place, that big plans were in the works. But lately, as much of what had been going on behind the dusty, gated-off scenes is revealed in its polished form, a "wow" factor of sorts has been felt. People are simply impressed.

Of course, it isn't just happening here. The trend, after years of folks fleeing to the suburbs of any number of big cities, has reversed itself to a certain extent. People are slowly but surely moving back to and patronizing the city centers because the city centers have cleaned up their acts so to speak and are offering much more. And Des Moines, historically not in step with the times due to shoddy city leadership and a population resistant to change, is surprisingly in the game, and in it in a big way.

It started with the people and business owners who held on after the flood, the individuals who gave downtown mouth-to-mouth when it was bloated and blue lipped. Sure the skywalk has always been busy - from 8 to 5 - but some folks were convinced that downtown was destined to be more than just women in support hose and tennis shoes doing laps over the noon hour, working off the morning Cinnabon. They envisioned a true neighborhood that was alive after five. From the Brown-Camp Lofts to the restaurants on and around Court Avenue, the mud and the dust and the boarded-up windows didn't keep them from moving forward. Downtown, they felt, simply had something.

Thank God for their vision and passion. Because now it truly has something, and everyone wants a piece - big and small.

This past weekend 1,500 people jammed into a Friday night Winefest event. The weekend before, an East Village party attracted a huge crowd and a Saturday morning in Nollen Plaza was shared by 10,000 or so individuals who were watching the Dam-to-Dam runners cross the finish line before piling into yet another crowded Downtown Farmers' Market. Next weekend, one of the city's crown jewels, The Des Moines Arts Festival, will no doubt have folks cramming the bridges, forgoing elbowroom for culture and excitement. Next month it's Taste of Des Moines and the opening of the Iowa Events Center. There are Thursday and Friday night concerts series throughout the summer. A new Science Center of Iowa. A riverwalk that has gotten the OK for millions in additional whistles and bells before it has even been completed. A trail system that would be the envy of any city in the world. And the list goes on and on.

And while some of these things are by no means new, what is new is the feeling of downtown being more than just a stop. "We'll have a quick drink" or "Let's swing in to the farmers' market" or "I have to run an errand in East Village" have been replaced by people who are going downtown and staying downtown. And be it for an entire day, evening out or for good, downtown has a bright light shining on it that developers and business owners cannot help but be attracted to and, in turn, act on.

Is there work to be done? Sure, but we can now say without question that it's finally getting done. There are bits and pieces of downtown that are in the planning stages still and being talked to death as always. But with all that is going on around those bits and pieces, it's likely that they, too, will come to fruition, or the people who are dragging their feet will be replaced by more proactive individuals who want to make their mark. Obviously, this hasn't always been the case. But, plainly put, there is nothing greater than a concept whose time has come. There is a wave downtown and it's stronger than anything seen in 1993.

The pushing, the striving need to continue in earnest, without question. However, this isn't a "we're moving in the right direction" deal, this is a "we're already there" deal. We are flirting with greatness, a long way from where many people thought we could ever be. Now we just need to build on what we already have and never let up. CV

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